Neville's Crush
by CaptainCrieff
Summary: Neville returns to Hogwarts as an adult ready to teach but an unexpected surprise is waiting for him in the teacher's lounge.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Shoot."

Scurrying down the 5th floor corridor, Neville Longbottom was late for his first class. He hurried past the statue of Boris the Bewildered, barely remembering to jump the missing step he always fell through. Now almost sprinting Neville dashed through the courtyard and into Greenhouse #1.

"Goodmorningclass" he sputtered to the petrified first years.

For many of them it was their first ever class at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Little did they know, this was a first for Neville as well.

" Today," he announced, "we will be starting rather basic. Many of you, I'm sure, have absolutely no idea what to expect in my class. I confess, neither do I. We will be following the curriculum that may predecessor, Mrs. Sprout, has left with me. Please take out your books and turn to chapter one "_Unearthing Earthworms"._

There was a lot of frightened scattering among the students. When they all had their books ready Neville started again.

"In front of each of you is a pot full of earthworms. Besides that, in the red pot, are Venus Fly Traps. These plants however have been genetically mutated into vicious carnivorous plants that will basically eat anything now. Do not fear," he assured them "these plants can be controlled. Just keep a steady hand, wear your dragon hide gloves and, please, no silliness." he said giving a brief glance at Fred Weasley II.

The rest of class, Neville thought, went rather well. He straightened his bow tie, squared his shoulders and made his final announcement.

"Well done everybody! Most of have managed to feed your plants earthworms without any serious burns or injuries! What progress we are all making!" The bell rang signifying break. "Off you go" Neville said dismissing the rather pleased and relieved first years.

As he was cleaning up the spilt dirt, caused by Fred, he heard a sharp singular knock at the door. Startled, he found himself looking at Professor Mcgonagall. She was now the Headmistress. He hair was in a severe bun as always and her lips were pressed together in an almost approving sort of way.

"How was your first class?" she asked casually. "I heard one of your new students whispering to his friend of how your form of teaching is excellent. Well, he didn't quite say it like that. It was more like, 'Blimey! Do ya reckon all our classes will be as excitin'?"

She and Neville laughed for a few moments then resumed conversation. "I trust you are adapting well?" Mcgonagall said. "All of the staff agree that putting you in this position is a good idea indeed." Neville looked at his feet, a little flattered. Praise from Professor Mcgonagall was something he was not used to.

"Oh yes. I love being back at Hogwarts. It was a great place to be as a child and now without exams it will be my favourite."

Neville smiled warmly at her and continued, "I heard there was a last minute replacement to the staff?" Mcgonagall sniffed and looked rather displeased.

"Yes." she replied sadly. "Professor Flitwick has retired. He decided to spend his last years with his family. Got a bad case of dragon pox."

Neville nodded genuinely. Flitwick had been kind to Neville as a boy.

"So who's replacing him?" he questioned. Mcgonagall grinned. "Oh I think I'll let you see for yourself at the dinner tonight." She turned on her heel, almost as if she was dissaparating, and walked promptly out of Greenhouse #1.

Neville would have been able to stay and see the new Professor at lunch but he would have to wait till dinner. He promised Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny he'd meet them at the Three Broomsticks for drinks. Luna had been invited but she told them she had a prior engagement. After second period (a free period he used to look over the fifth years' itinerary), he walked down to Hogsmeade. He opened the door to the Three Broomsticks and scanned the spacious pub for his friends. He spotted them sitting in the corner near the fire place, all deep in discussion. Their conversation was left forgotten when Ginny saw Neville. She called out to him, beckoning him to sit down. When he approached the table he was consumed in hugs by Hermione and Ginny. Harry and Ron greeted him and asked how things were going at Hogwarts.

"Things are going wonderfully!" he exclaimed. Suddenly he was submersed in talk of new herb discoveries. Half way through an explanation about a certain type of maple leaf that made it snow when it was touched, he was interrupted by am aged Madame Rosmerta.

"What can I get all of you?" When she had the orders and left to get them Harry cleared his throat.

"Well we, I mean Ginny and I, have news. We're getting married!"

Ron's eyes widened in pure shock.

"Married? Well congratulations mate...married? Bit soon-" but he was cut off she Hermione's shrieks of glee.

"Brilliant! Ginny, Harry, really well done!"

Neville was almost as shocked as Ron.

Two of his best friends getting married? He knew they had been going out for some time but now they're tying the knot? Their celebration continued as Rosmerta brought the drinks (one Firewhisky, two Butterbeers, and two mulled meads) and Hermione proposed a toast.

"To Harry and Ginny. The world's most magical couple. And to Neville, for landing his new job."

"Harry, Ginny and Neville" they all chorused.

Then Neville remembered.

"Professor Flitwick is ill." he informed them. "There's a new charms teacher."

"Who is it Neville?" enquired Harry.

Neville looked up at the castle through the open window and pondered.

"Not a clue."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

When his luncheon was finished they said there farewells and Harry,Ginny,Ron and Hermione dissaparated. With no one to accompany him on his walk back to the school, he satisfied himself by trying to guess who the new teacher was. Malfoy? Don't be silly, he was lousy at charms. Dean? Yeah..maybe. Neville fought against the unnaturally harsh September wind until he reached Greenhouse # 4. He was a little early and had some time to kill before the fifth years arrived. He busied himself by putting mittens and scarfs on the freezing baby mandrakes. Finally the bell rang and five Ravenclaws and five Hufflepuffs stepped into the room. He started instructing them on how to properly plant Gillyweed seeds. While vaguely reciting the properties of Gillyweed he kept glancing up at the castle. He kept thinking, Who was this new teacher? It's not even that important really but I am eager to find out. Maybe it's a centaur or some other creature..He let his mind wander the rest of the class. When class was over he assigned them homework,

"Write a 6 inch essay on magical water plants. An "A" essay will include the useful effects of gillyweed and for extra credit include why it was used at Hogwarts on February 24th, 1995. Class dismissed."

The last class of the day went by quite quickly. It was seventh years and they were all NEWT students who knew what they were doing. The only bit of teaching Neville really did that class was,

"Who can tell me the proper name for this plant?" as he held up a an odd looking plant covered in boils. A Slytherin girl's hand shot up to answer.

"Mimbulus Mimbletonia!"she said excitedly.

10 points to Slytherin later, the class was on their own. At long last it was dinner time. Neville congratulated himself on his first day at work, drew himself to his full height and strode in to the Great Hall. Quite oblivious to any of the students he marched up to his seat beside Professor Abbott, who had taken over Transfiguration when Mcgonagall took over as Head. Looking for the new teacher Neville swerved his head to the right but no new faces. He turned to his left and there was most definitely a new face there. Not an unfamiliar one, but one new to our table.

"Hello Neville" said the dreamy voice of Luna Lovegood.

She was wearing bright blue robes with sea green tassells. Her long dirty blond hair was tucked behind her ears so her unusual earrings were visible. Neville was incredibly surprised.

"Luna? What are you doing here?" he said stupidly.

She gazed at him as though he was the most fascinating subject on earth, her wide unblinking eyes resting on his stunned face.

"Well, teaching of course." she replied. "I'm the new charms teacher. Oh it'll be just like old times!".

When the initial shock had passed Neville was actually quite pleased to have an old friend as a colleague. Before they could catch up, Professor Mcgonagall stood up to make a speech.

"Good evening students. We have among us, an edition to our teaching staff. Professor Lovegood." she declared as she gestured to Luna.

Luna stood up, gave a little wave and smiled vaguely. Mcgonagall continued.

"I hope all of your first day of classes have been informative and our new students now have some idea of what Hogwarts is all about. Filch has asked me to remind you that Fanged Frisbees are still banned on the grounds..."

When her speech was complete Neville and Luna immediately started to chat.

"I did know you were studying to be a teacher! I thought you were working at the Ministry in the Ludicrous Patents Office." Luna looked thoughtful as though she was structuring her next sentence very carefully.

"Yes." she began. "But when I heard that there was a need for a new Professor I immediately applied. Charms was my best subject you know." she added.

They continued to talk until the very last crumb was eaten by the now satiated students. As the students walked to their dormitories Luna and Neville said their good nights. They parted ways when Mcgonagall cornered Luna and bombarded her questions of how she was fitting in. Neville's office (which was down by the greenhouses) was large and had a bed and that was where he slept. He undid his bow-tie, removed his socks and stepped into his dressing gown. When Neville had stteled into his bed he thought of Luna. Glad to have her here, he thought. Good to have a friend. Wow, she looked great...and he drifted off to sleep.

Neville awoke the next morning, dazed and confused by his unusual dream. In his dream he was back in the Room of Requirement with the rest of the DA. They were all dancing to songs played by a band of Thestrals and everyone was wearing extremely poufy wedding gowns and seemed to be enjoying themselves thoroughly.

He sat up, through away his duvet and made his way blindly to the kettle. He pointed his cherry wand at the stove top and said,

"_Incen-" _Neville let out a staggering yawn, "_dio!"_.

His lack of concentration took a toll on the wellbeing of his poor kitchen. Flames erupted from his wand faster than Viktor Krum pulling a Wronski Feint. The heat of the flames burning his kitchen gave Neville a jolt.

He came to and shouted " _Aguamenti!"._

Relieved when he realized this spell had had the proper effect on his belongings he muttered the hot-air charm to relieve Filch of the task of drying out his galley. After addressing the matter of boiling the water for his tea he traipsed back to his bedroom, fastened his suspenders, straightened his bow tie, combed his hair, brushed his teeth, looked in the mirror, flashed himself a modest smile and finally went and claimed his tea. While sipping his tea gently his thoughts wandered.

_Luna looked really lovely yesterday. I wonder what she'll wear today._

Neville surprised himself with these thoughts. The only other time he had been so interested in what a girl was wearing was during his time as an Auror when he was dating Milicent Bulstrode (she had bullied him into it). The only reason he had cared what she was wearing was because he needed to be sure she didn't have a monstrosity of an outfit on or know if she was adorned with temporary tattoos of Dark Marks. Controlling his thoughts, Neville drew himself up and put down his empty tea cup on a pile of old photo albums and made his way to the front door. He headed up to the castle for some never ending breakfast.

He took his seat at the head table and glanced around for signs of Luna. This was not a difficult task. As the rest of the Ravenclaws cam filing in the Great Hall, Neville spotted Luna, dressed in a rather normal tunic, purple trousers and she was wearing what resembled an aubergine on her head. A few Gryffindor second years started to snigger at the odd headdress but 7th year Gryffindor told them to be quiet.

"She fought in the second war, have a little respect."

Good, thought Neville. The last thing he wanted was for Luna to feel uncomfortable here. He gestured to her that there was a seat next to him and she gladly sat down.

"I had the most wonderful dream!" exclaimed Luna, before Neville could even say good morning.

In the past this may have bothered him but now he found himself to be completely intrigued by what she had to say. The morning seemed to pass extremely fast when Luna was there.

Just before the bell rang for classes to begin he made up his mind to say, "Luna, would you care to have lunch with me? My place after second period?".

He had never used that much of his courage at one time before. Not even when he killed Nagini. Luna held a coy smile for a moment then replied in an unfazed tone,

"That would be nice thank you. It's so lovely of you to ask. I'll be there." She smiled again then walked as though she was sleepwalking into the hallway.

Neville watched her until she was out of his sight. For some strange reason he debated with himself over if he should go follow her to the Charms corridors. Nonsense, he has a to go to class to, class..

OH! _I forgot to prepare the Puffapods for the third years!_

Secretly scheming on how to stealthily distract the students while organizing the equipment and plants, Neville bolted down to Greenhouse #5 , opened the door and remembered what he was doing after second class. This seemed to calm him down. The third years turned their attention to the dazed professor. Neville regained his focus and laid out the lesson to the students, smiling like a fool the entire time.


	3. Chapter 3

Neville stared down at his filthy robes and observed the damage that had been done to his bowtie during today's lesson.

_Great._ He thought.

The last thing he needed right now was to be covered in dirt and puffapod residue. He decided to himself he was looking rather unimpressive at the moment. Then again, he had never seen Luna judge anyone on how they dress.

_Still, _he concluded,_ It would be nice to be viewed as presentable._

He removed his flaking bowtie and replaced it with one with bright blue stars. Simply cleaning his robes, ("_Scourgify!"),_ Neville busied himself in the kitchen, determined to make every last spot of dust vanish. As he finished bustling about making their tea Neville heard a gentle rapping on his front door.

His heart nearly skipped a beat.

"Come in!" he yell softly, his voice lingering on the last syllable, careful not to sound too excited that he had company.

Neville got to the foyer just in time to see a head of long dirty blonde hair peering through the doorway. She looked around, not with her usual glazed look, but with a look of interest as if she was examining something absolutely fascinating. When she had completed her viewing of Neville's leaf collection, Luna stood up straight and turned around.

"Good afternoon Luna" said Neville, obviously eager to break the awkward silence. He opened his arms, gesturing for a hug. He hadn't seen her for at least three months. Luna broke into a warm friendly smile and gratefully walked into his extended arms.

"Hi Neville."

Perhaps it was just Neville's imagination but he swore that when he let go, Luna held on a second longer.

"Care for a cup of tea?" asked Neville. "It's orange pekoe."

"Of course! That's one of my favourites. Second only of course to my father's Gurdy Root infusion."

They sat down at Nevilles's antique table, tea pot already neatly placed in the center accompanied by an array of tea biscuits and cookies such as jammie dodgers and shortbread. Neville took the time to pour the tea manually. He thought, perhaps, that would show he was a gentleman. As he was pouring, Luna started the conversation with one of her random observations.

"These are very lovely teacups Neville, wherever did you get them?"

Neville thought for a moment. No one had ever queried about his dishes before. Then again Luna wasn't "anyone".

"Err, I believe they belonged to my grandmother. She gave them to me in her will. She gave me tea cups and 50 galleons. When you think about it, that's not much to start a life with, is it?" He chuckled. He had never given the odd bequest a moment of thought. And now come to think of it, Neville was questioning his grandmother's action. Luna seemed to be pleased with the second of distraction.

"Father is always saying that one should look beyond the evident. Maybe she gave you those teacups for a reason." Luna batted her wide eyes. She was serious.

Neville, afraid he was going to started laughing, quickly changed the direction of the conversation and asked the obvious question.

"How are your classes going?" asked Neville, cringing at the mundane small talk he had just initiated. Luna didn't seem to mind.

"Oh everyone is so lovely" she replied. "I never realized, when I was a student, how much the teachers help the students during their time here. Not just with school work but helping them shape their futures. I find it quite wonderful to be a part of their journey."

All of a sudden Neville felt a sudden rush of affection for the girl sitting opposite him. Of course she was not the girl she used to be during their time at Hogwarts. She had somehow shifted, oh so subtly, into a beautiful, compassionate and understanding woman.

"Um Neville?" said Luna.

"Hmmm?" said Neville.

Luna looked at him with concern.

"You're setting the tablecloth on fire."

Neville looked down at the table then jumped back and batted out the small fire. Unknowingly, while he was lost in thought, his wand had been emitting sparks. He remembered when Ron had done something similar with snow many years ago. He pictured Luna in her fifth year poised at the Ravenclaws' table.

"Neville, you're doing it again."

After the tablecloth incident their luncheon was quite enjoyable. They sat and talked about Luna's charms class and she was equally interested in what Neville had to say about rare plants herbologists had just discovered in Malaysia. Time had flown so fast with Luna that Neville remembered what time it was. Minutes before the bell rang they said their goodbyes, hugged and Luna gave Neville a quick kiss on his cheek. She smiled serenely and ran to make her class. Neville straightened his bow tie, adjusted his suspenders and walked triumphantly into Greenhouse #4 where a group of second years were patiently waiting.


End file.
